Perception of Reality
by Blessed by Farore
Summary: (Sequel to Like Thunder and Lightning) Now that Nya has official joined the team as the new ninja of air, the ninja have decided to focus their energy on training Lloyd, the green ninja. Of course Hisayo hasn't let them forget about finding the other elemental ninja. And the Serpentine aren't playing fair either.
1. Chapter 1

[Cole]

 _One hundred and thirty-two, one hundred and thirty-three..._

I rested on the bench press. It was a warm-up more than anything, a couple hundred to start the day. I had woken up before everyone else had, so I decided to put my time to better use and train. I also needed the time to clear my head. Lloyd had joined the team a few weeks ago, though training had started off very slow with him. The kid returned from us in no condition to physically train properly, when he tried his body had protested. According to Hisayo and Dante, a little while after we left he threw up on the deck and had to lie down. Though he had come a long way since then and he could start proper training very soon, we've kept him on very basic exercises and more of the none physical aspects of being a ninja. Of course we had discovered quite quickly that he was very opinionative, stubborn and found anything that wasn't fighting very, very boring.

I was also worried about a few other things. It's been a few weeks since we failed to stop the Serpentine from collecting... whatever it was they had collected. Those dark crystals, they seemed to pulse with some sicking energy. Even remembering them caused me to feel off. The worst part was that Serpentine activity dropped after that. They had never been quiet, especially since it had been awhile since they had gone after a fang blade. So worried had been an understatement. I had stayed up late for the past few nights, deep in thought and re-evaluated all plans that I went over.

The Serpentine must have found something that they could use to help them get their hands on the fang blades, whether directly or indirectly. Then there was what Lloyd said he had overheard and seen. I had never seen a female Serpentine, and Zane confirmed that there had been no record of one. And another human casually walking around the Serpentine's underground base? Something sounded off about that as well. A human working with the Serpentine wasn't impossible, but I couldn't come up with any reason why Pythor would allow a human to approach him in the first place. The Serpentine all hated humans, them even taking the time to listen to one seemed a little farfetched. What did that human have to do to get their attention?

I sensed the door to the weight room as it opened and closed silently. I returned the weights back to the resting place, before I turned to see who had interrupted me when I had just hit two hundred and seventeen. Dante Garmadon blinked at me for a moment, eyes wide, before he gave a sheepish smile. Slowly, he moved a water bottle towards me and I gladly took the offering. I downed the bottle in on go, only just aware of how thirsty I had become. With that out of the way, I returned my attention back on the intruder.

"This ship really allows you to take in some nice views" he joked, and I rolled my eyes.

"I get the feeling you're not talking about the sunrise" I grabbed my shirt and pulled it on, "it's pretty early, what are you doing up?"

Dante shrugged, "mom told me to get everyone up. When I went to your room, the ninja said that if you went there, you were probably here. Anyway, mom planned to make breakfast for you, but then we saw some unexpected visitors."

I paused to check to make sure we were still in the air, "who?"

"Your dragons" he answered as fiddled with a tiny dumbbell, "they seem a little impatient too. They keep glancing at the door and shifting around."

I almost ran out the door in my excitement. I missed the dragons a lot. While the spinjitzu vehicles were great (or, at least, they had been great), they were nothing compared to the thrill and exhilaration I felt when I rode Rocky. It was something that nothing could really compare to. I knew the others felt the same as well. Both Kai and Zane had admitted to sometimes going on long rides together because their vehicles mimicked the feeling of dragon riding the best. Jay and I had enclosed vehicles, so we had to take their word for it. So now that the dragons are back, I was more than happy to see them.

As soon as I reached the deck I had to stop for them moment to really look at the dragons. Shen and Zephyr waited down the back, away from the others. The first dragon the caught my attention was Jay's. Wisp hadn't grown much since they left us. Though the lightning dragon looked a little slimmer in some areas, it seemed to have a more aerodynamic shape. It's scales were still dark blue, but the crackles with lighter blue lightning in random places every once and a while. The dragon next to Whisp, Flame, also hadn't changed to much. They had a slightly larger built body, with longer wings and tail. Speaking of the tail, fire travelled it's entire length. The claws on it's wings had extended so that they looked sharp and dangerous. And the teeth had become a lot more sharper, while the had had taken on a more softer look. Shard was next. Large spikes of ice jutted out of it's back, leaving only a little space for a rider to use. Shard was much larger in size than the other two I had looked at before. Shard's tail ended in a large, frozen, spike, while the head seemed fuller. Ricky was the last I recognised. Black and large, Rocky took up the most space on the Bounty's deck. The wings had grown large to accommodate the size, and the tail had a ball with rocky spikes that jutted out from it.

 _ **'Finally. You all sleep like the dead. That's the one problem with humans, they're always so sleepy'**_

A very feminie voice that had obviously come from 'Wisp' rang through me head, and based on the other's reactions, theirs as well.

 _ **'Damini, that was rude'**_ 'Shard' had added.

 _ **'Sorry about their rudeness, ninja. I handle that later'**_ 'Rocky' interrupted, _**'as you can probably tell, we're the dragons you used to ride. After our transformation into mature dragons, we decided to return to you to help aid you in your destiny. While you have given us nicknames that we are fine with, we probably should reveal our true names. I am Adhamh. The one you called Wisp is Damini. The one you called Shard is Edur. And the red one is Nuria. Though Flame probably suits her better.'**_

 _ **'Please. 'Blaze' or 'Flare' would've suited me much better than 'Flame'**_ the red dragon retorted.

"Uh, so, there's no hard feelings about gender mistake" Jay laughed sheepishly, "right?"

 _ **'Gender is a human thing. We don't really worry or care to much about it. Unless we are mating for the purpose of making an egg'**_ Nuria answered.

 _ **'Why don't we let them eat. Their food is ready and I highly doubt they'd like a lesson in dragon mating rituals. Or their lack of commitment to one partner'**_ Adhamh stated.

We all took the hint and decided to leave the dragons alone. Most of us, anyway, Zane had to be convinced by Kai as he was curious about the topic of dragons and their mating cycles. What I worried about was that the dragons would actually agree and would forget to turn off the connection to all of us, including those that really didn't want to hear about it. When we entered the Bounty to get the dining room, we were enveloped by the smell of pancakes, bacon and eggs. Dante was right, Hisayo had decided to make us breakfast. She rarely cooked for us, but when she did, we were usually impressed. Though I was pretty sure she only cooked when she did because she wanted to encourage Lloyd to eat more.

We all entered the dining to see that everyone else was already there. Nya and Lloyd had already set up the table, while Hisayo and Dante weren't in the room. They probably had been in the kitchen to put the finishing touches on breakfast. The silver kunoichi planted a kiss on her boyfriend, before they both took their seats. The rest of us followed their example. Lloyd sat beside the head of the table where Hisayo sat. There was a space for Dante, followed by Kai. I sat down where I'd be on Hisayo's other side, while Zane, Jay and Nya sat down next to me. I looked over at the young green ninja. He looked a lot healthier now; he had regained a lot of the weight he had lost from his time with the Serpentine. His mental health seemed rather stable as well, though there were a few occasions he wake someone up when he had a nightmare. I was surprised to discover that Kai and Zane where the two that he liked to go, instead of his mother or brother.

Lloyd's training was another story entirely. He only wanted to learn what he had found interesting. Otherwise, he was rather difficult to teach. One of the things kai had attempted to teach the youngster was that the 'cooler' moves weren't always the most effective moves. Still, the kid had improved. Jay seemed to have the most luck with him, his speed and agility had come along nicely. Kai had managed to get his stamina up, while Nya had helped out with his balance. While Lloyd actually respected Zane, the ice ninja struggled with making his lessons stick. Though Lloyd now walked like a proper shinobi, so there was that. I had only slightly better luck than Zane when I trained with him. And that was probably because he realized that getting seriously injured in battle would not be 'cool', so he would have to raise he defense to stop that.

On thing that Lloyd was more than eager to learn was the one thing we refused to teach him yet. He wanted to learn to control his elemental abilities. We already discussed him that until we were sure he had learnt restraint; we couldn't risk the number of natural disasters he could create by mistake. He thought we had decided to over-exaggerate his potential but Hisayo backed us up. She stated that most elemental had previous elementals that others would watch to predict how strong they'd be. The last elemental to wield similar power to Lloyd was the man who shaped Ninjago and turned it into what it is now. So he was a pretty powerful kid whether he liked it or not.

"I heard you decided to get some extra training in this morning" Hisayo's eyes glinted with humor as she smiled over her tea cup, "something on your mind?"

I checked to see that the others where busy with their own conversations, "a few actually. The Serpentine have something planned and I can't figure out what. They've been abnormally quiet recently. And your son's training is not going to plan. Any wisdom to bestow upon me?"

"He has improved. And he will continue to improve" Hisayo replied, "as for the Serpentine, they're always planning something. Always have, and always will. It's in a snakes nature to be cunning. This is nothing different. You will be fine, and you will stop the Serpentine from unleashing the Great Devourer."

I shook my head and smiled, "it's good to see the confidence you have in our team, _Sensei_. Hopefully, having our dragons back will help with taking them down. And we should improve a lot when we get more members as we will be able to utilise more tactics."

She wacked my arm at the teasing tone before she returned to her drink, "when Lloyd is fully recovered I'll be teaching you all healing technique that requires chi gong. It requires time, concentration and patience. There are also a few other things to go over, but I'll save that for the lesson. It should bore Lloyd enough to make him more enthusiastic about your teachings."

"You're terrifying" I said as I grabbed another plateful of food.

But before she could reply, an alarm sounded throughout the Destiny's Bounty (which also interrupted a huge debate between the others about the best video game). The falcon must have spotted Serpentine activity. It was time we knew what they were up to.

* * *

 **A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of the re-written _Just an Illusion_. **

**Now, for those of you who have already read the original version, you're probably confused. Where's the rest of it? Well, I'm trying something out. I want to see if it's better for you guys if I upload the chapters separately, rather than uploading them all at once. Depending on what you guys say, I'll continue with the winning idea with the next book I rewrite.** **I also decided to do this because it's been a while since I wrote for this series. I figured you guys would like an update as soon as possible.**

 **Either way, let me know how you're feeling.**

 **Also, I got a PM from someone asking me what specific martial arts I practised. Have I really not mentioned this before? I study Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, though I am looking at getting into Muay Thai with the help of a friend. Most of my friends do a lot of martial arts, so my knowledge on each one is very well informed.**

 **Anyway, I added that here encase anyone else was curious.**

 **Thank you for your kind reviews (seriously, I love you guys). Constructive criticism is encouraged.**

 **See you next chapter, victims~**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Putting the warning up here. This chapter is told by an arrogant character. The character is not actually as 'amazing' as they make themselves out to be. And when the character is described by a different character, it'll be quite obvious that the ninja don't consider her 'amazing'. Also, if she sounds a bit repetitive than she'd very much in character.**

* * *

[Ashley]

"Alright, now that your krav maga lessons are over we have thirty minutes until your expected to be at your violin lesson. What do you feel like doing until then, Ms. Ashleena Springwood?" Benjamin asked.

"Honestly, I don't care" I replied "I have my camera, so maybe somewhere I can take photos. Also, Benji, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Ashley. Just Ashley. You know I hate the name Ashleena."

Benji shook his head, "alright, but you can stop with my nicknames. I'm your driver, not your friend."

"Uh huh, keep telling yourself that, Benji" I retorted.

I smiled as he opened the car door and I slid inside to the backseat of the car. Ninjago city, the biggest city in all of Ninjago. It was a city rich in culture, diversity, wealth and opportunity. Tall towers of different shapes, sizes and styles scratched at the sky, while cars littered the streets. People walked along the sidewalk to their own, individual beat. The city was almost like an amusement park, there were surprises at every corner and you never knew what you would find. It didn't matter if you never left the boundaries of the city, you'd be practically experiencing everything Ninjago has to offer just by living here.

It was why I loved my life here so much. The city was just so stunning. There were just so many things to do. You could visit restaurants, theatres, museums, clubs, bars, pubs, cinemas, shopping malls, activity centers and so much more. The parks were filled with beautiful plants and flowers. There were amazing fountains on display. A lot of highly sought out schools were also located within the city boundaries. I regularly passed _Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts_ on my way to my krav maga lessons. I really liked to take photos around the city for inspiration; as I do enjoy a bit of fashion design. It was no brainer why everyone wanted to live here. It was honestly just so amazing.

Though I couldn't help but feel like something was missing. Like I needed to use my amazing gifts to help people around Ninjago. I also felt a shift inside me, like something had changed. I couldn't put my finger on it though. I new I had grown as a woman ever since the incident with Heath and Caroline. But that couldn't have changed me that much as a person. Still, I felt stronger and more powerful. Like I could take on anything. It was an amazing feeling. Though, perhaps the feeling of being stronger came from my recent lessons in krav maga. Well, not 'recent'. But I had improved quiet a lot over the last few months. I guess for once my parents had signed me up for a class that I was even more than amazing at. Which is good, because I actually like knowing that I could defend myself easily. Not that wouldn't be able to if I hadn't taken the lessons. But now I can look even more amazing while doing it.

That wasn't the only thing that had changed. A few months ago, a friend showed me this website called _'Ninjago's Heroes'_. It was a blog about these ninja who apparently travelled around Ninjago to fight off monster and other things that go bump in the night. The whole site was filled with two blurry pictures, a couple of 'interviews' with 'witnesses' and a bunch of fanart and fanfics about the whole thing. They even posted up on it that the Serpentine had been unleashed from Ninjago, and that people should be on high alert. It was ridiculous. Though it was also slightly entertaining to read because it was so bad it was funny.

I decided to put my headphones in as I selected the song ' _Everybody_ _Talks_ ' by Neon Trees from my playlist and gazed out the window. The sight of the colorful city caught my attention. There were lanterns hung up, billboards advertising the most stupidest things, street performers, tourist and everything else made it look so lively. It distracted me just as much as it reminded me of the things I wanted to be distracted from.

"Enjoying the view?" Benji teased.

I rolled my eyes, "how about you do your job, Mr. I'm-your-driver-not-your-friend."

"Alright" he laughed "we're gonna head over to your violin lessons now, otherwise, with this traffic, we'll never make it in time."

"I wouldn't mind being late. You know I don't like my violin lessons. It's not the highlight of my day" I said as I fiddled with the window button.

"Doesn't have anything to do with your skills. Because you're really great at the violin. It's the teacher's fault" he chuckled.

I glared at him, "are you implying that I'm not amazing at the violin?"

"You're very good for someone who might be tone deaf" he joked.

I rolled my eyes and started to play around with the window again as the scenery changed to a familiar route. I really did hate my violin lessons. My teacher was a bit bossy, very strict and tried to claim that I had no talent whatsoever. Obvious she wouldn't know real talent if it hit her on the head, holding a giant neon sign. I had amazing skills. They were just a little different from everyone else's. But it was music, not rocket science. It's meant to be different. If my teacher couldn't grasp that basic concept, that she clearly isn't that much of a fan of music.

My mental rant was interrupted when the car violently jerked to a stop. My had had hit the screen between the drivers seat and mine, but other than that I hadn't been injured. I rubbed my head, it had hurt but it wasn't serious. The worst that would happen was a bruise. With that out of the way, I returned my attention to what was in front of me. But before I could yell out at Benjamin for whatever reason he stopped, he opened his door and left the car. I was a little worried and uncertain but decided to unplug my own seatbelt and climb out as well.

I was horrified at the sight in front of me. In front of the traffic that was being help up was an acidic green truck that was covered in scales. It completely blocked the road. On top of the truck was a large, vibrant purple, snake humanoid creature. What appeared to be a serpent-humanoid army surrounded the snake-man, as well as four other snake-guys behind him. Each held a weird staff. The red, _two-headed_ , snake-humanoid slithered towards to purple one and handed him something I couldn't make out from the distance. He raised it to his mouth.

"People of Ninjago city" he hissed, "a long time ago your ancestors robbed us of our freedom and locked us underground. For centuries we were trapped there. Now that we're free, we've decided to return the favor!"

He turned towards his fellow snakes, "you know what to do boys!"

Screams of panic echoed through the air, as people tried to run away from the chaos. The city filled with a song of horror. Children cried. Cars screeched and honked. People called out names that I didn't recognize. That's when I noticed that black snakes appeared from beneath the earth and latched onto who ever they would before they disappeared underground again. Snakes of different colors dragged people away, kicking and screaming, back to their master. I vaguely noticed that in the chaos Benjamin had grabbed my hand and had weaved us through the crowd to get to safety.

Suddenly, something pulled me back and I collided with a hard wall of scales. My breath was knocked out of me from the impact, so I offered little resistance as a scaled arm enclosed around my waist to drag me back to the purple snake-humanoid. A lot of people had already been gathered there. It seemed like they wanted to force them down a large underground tunnel that they had made.

Before I had gotten too close to the tunnel, a large gust of wind sent the serpent that help me flying. To my surprise, the wind also help me tightly, which caused me to stay completely still. When it released me, I had fallen to the floor, but I struggled to return to my feet again. When I looked up, I saw two people in ninja gi standing in between the snakes and the rest of the people in the city. The first one I noticed was girl who was completely clad in silver. Next to her was a boy clad in a rich royal blue. While the blue one was clearly male, he wasn't that muscular.

Then three more ninja, that donned the colors red, white and black, joined them. A huge fight broke out. To my surprise, the ninja actually managed to fend off the snake-people really well. It seemed that, despite the difference in numbers, the ninja had the advantage due to their manipulation of the elements. The serpents had been strong, but it appeared that they were not strong enough to defend themselves against the ninja with the numbers that they currently had. Their main objective seemed to be getting as many people out of the city and into the tunnel.

That shocked me a bit. Why would they continue to take hostages? I mean, now would be a pretty could time to use them to get away with minimal casualties on their side. But they didn't, instead they just grabbed onto people while the snakes underground pulled them under to help them escape with people. They were only putting up as much of a fight as necessary to distract the ninja. It confused me, though I saw no reason to think so hard on it.

Especially since I saw a few snakes who had spotted me and seemed to consider me a target.

I slowly backed away, but with the cars in way and a pick wall behind me, I knew that unless one of those ninja saved me I would be captured. I took deep breaths and tried to remember what my krav maga instructor had taught me. Though I felt pans of anxiety rise up inside me as I did so. I knew I was no match against them, not when I didn't have the same abilities as those ninja. All I wanted to do was hide. But with the wall behind me, there wasn't anywhere too hide.

But as if the world had sensed my request, a pale yellow light filled my vision. In front of me was a see-through brick wall. I was worried for a moment, but then I realized that the snakes that had been after me had stopped and started to look around. Which meant that whatever this see-through wall was, they couldn't see through it. Not long after, they seemed to be sliced in half by the air around them. I relaxed as I felt safe. The see-through wall disappeared with a faint yellow shimmer and a surprised silver ninja stood before me. I didn't have the time to say anything as my feet swayed, I landed in strong arms and everything went black.

* * *

 **A/N: Chapter number two.**

 **Like I already said, Ashley is arrogant. Please don't tell me to 'give her flaws' because that's her biggest flaw right there.**

 **There wasn't a lot of dialogue in the chapter. Actually, there wasn't much in this chapter. I forgot how short I used to write these. I'm glad that you guys like the longer chapters, because I like them too.**

 **Thank you for your kind reviews (seriously, I love you guys). Constructive criticism is encouraged.**

 **See you next chapter, victims~**


	3. Chapter 3

[Kai]

"Are you sure you–"

"Yes, for the millionth I am completely, one hundred percent sure. I was fighting off a few Serpentine when suddenly the wall warped with this yellow light and then she appeared and fainted. I know what I saw" Nya snapped.

We all stood inside the infirmary of the Destiny's Bounty. A young girl laid on a cot as we crowed her. Nya had convinced us to take a girl Cole had caught her after she collapsed, instead of getting her to the hospital with all the others we had managed to save. It was weird but we didn't question Nya and had instead listened to her request. We got the girl to Hisayo as quickly as we could to look over her injuries.

After a quick examination, followed by a quick scan from Zane, we quickly figured out she didn't have any major injuries. The girl would have a large bump on her head, but that was the worst of it. The girl was fairly tall, with her hair in a scarlet braid (though she had suspiciously dark roots). She was pretty tanned, pretty busty, which her yellow crop top and tight skirt failed to hide. Her footwear seemed like the only thing about her outfit that was appropriate; simple, yellow, flats. According to Nya, before she collapsed, she did walk as if she had proper, professional martial arts training. If this girl really was an elemental master, that would be a good thing.

"The ability to alter one's perception of reality belongs to the master of illusion" Hisayo sipped her tea, "it's a useful skill, being able to trick the eyes of others. She could give us the edge we need over the Serpentine."

Jay looked around, "speaking of elementals, where is Lloyd? I could've sworn the kid would be here."

The answer followed the sound of an open, "I'm right here. I was just getting in some extra training like you guys wanted me–"

Lloyd stopped as soon as he looked over to the cot. I noticed he had finally tried his uniform. From head-to-toe he was green, a little monster half-mask hung around his neck. His hood was a lot larger than ours, his gave the appearance of a shadow over his red eyes. On his gi, I see a little bit of gold, as a dragon head rested over his right shoulder and the tail of the dragon slipped under his left arm. As soon as I was done examining his gi, I noticed a faint blush on his face, accompanied by a scowl. I snickered to myself a little bit.

"Who is that?" Lloyd asked his mother.

"We haven't been able to begin introductions yet" Hisayo answered as she placed a hand on her son's shoulder, "we have reason to believe that she is the master of illusion and the next elemental ninja."

Lloyd looked at the redhead, "so she'll be on our team then?"

"If she chooses to follow the path of the kunoichi, then yes" she answered.

Lloyd opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted when the girl had released a loud groan. We all turned our attention to her as she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, as she rubbed the bump on her head with a free, shaky hand. She blinked a few times, which revealed pale blue eyes that looked unnatural. She obviously struggled a bit with adjusting to the lighting in the room. When her eyes finally started to focus, she gave us a onceover before she looked around the room. Despite the panic in her eyes, she managed to keep a calm façade.

Hisayo handed her a cup of tea, "this should help ease any lingering pain. Are you alright?"

"I feel like every hangover I have ever had is happening all at once" she groaned and sipped her tea.

 _Pros of having this girl as a teammate: she already knows how to mask her face. Cons: she seems like she could be an irresponsible, rich, party girl._

"My apologies, but you do not appear to be twenty-one years. Your appearance gives off the impression that you are closer to eighteen" Zane inquired, "how could you have had a hangover if you are not of legal age to consume alcohol?"

"Forget what I said about the hangover" she replied, "anyway, where am I? And who are you people?"

Cole stepped forward, "what's the last thing you remember?"

The girl paused for a moment before her eyes lit up in realization, "you guys were the ones fighting off those snake monsters in Ninjago city! Did you beat them all?! Is everyone alright?!"

"Calm down, alright. You've been through a lot–"

"Benji!" she cried, "did you guys save my driver, Benjamin Crosse? We got separated in the chaos. He's alright, isn't he?"

Cole sighed, "we didn't have time to check everyone's name. And quite a few people had been kidnapped by the Serpentine before we managed to intervene. We're sorry, but we don't have the answer to that question."

The girl placed her head in her hands for a moment, completely silent. Nya decided to comfort her and sat down beside her, her hand gently rubbed circles into the girl's back. In all honesty, when Nya saw her she said she was completely alone from what she saw. Not many people in the area that the Serpentine had attacked had managed to escape either. It was a highly populated street, full of stores. And less then half the people that were there had been safe. We should've known that the Serpentine would pull a stunt like that, they had been quiet for too long. We weren't prepared for this, and because of that, we risked everyone in Ninjago city's safety. This whole event was on us.

The redhead looked up at us. She hadn't been crying, but she still looked upset, "who are you guys? And what am I doing here? Because judging from the lack of people, I'm pretty sure you don't bring a lot of strangers into your secret base."

Hisayo handed her another cup of tea, "my name is Hisayo Garmadon. These are my students. Cole Damiani, the black ninja of earth. Zane Julien, the white ninja of ice. Jay Walker, the blue ninja of lightning. Kai Ninomiya, the red ninja of fire. Nya Ninomiya, the silver ninja of air. And lastly, my son, Lloyd Garmadon, the green ninja. And you are right, we don't take many people onto the Destiny's Bounty. But we needed to talk to you about something important."

"I'm Ashleena Springwood. But my friends all call me Ashley" she sipped her tea, "what did you want to talk to me about?"

"As you may have guessed, our elemental titles are not just titles. We were recruited by a man named Sensei Wu due to our affinity with the elements. You will not be able to meet him, due to him leaving on a journey to find someone who can help us in our fight against the Serpentine" Zane explained, "the reason we brought you here is because you also showcase elemental abilities. You appear to be the master of illusion. You have the ability to alter people's perspective."

Cole nodded, "That's why we brought you here. To talk to you about joining us as the yellow ninja of illusion. The Serpentine are just the beginning; and we could use all the help we could get."

Ashley's face deadpanned, "excuse me?"

"Hey, being a ninja is pretty cool" Jay laughed, "there's elemental powers. The opportunity to explore Ninjago. Saving innocent people. Awesome uniforms and matching pajamas."

"Look, as amazing as I am, I'm not a ninja. I'm a fashion designer in the making, as well as a rich kid that has her driver as a bodyguard" she countered.

Nya sighed, "you walk like someone who has been trained by a person who has mastered the arts. Your footsteps might not be silent, but we can work on that. Believe it or not, you're not that far off becoming ninja material."

"I'm everything material. I just don't want to deal with your snake problems" she snapped, "my parents are worried, anyway, so I should probably call them to tell them I'm alright."

Hisayo took back the empty cup, "we understand. This is your decision after all, and we refuse to force you into making it. However, I would like to request that you stay here for a little bit. Try out the ninja lifestyle a little bit before you decide to go back."

Ashley paused for a moment, as if she actually wanted to consider the offer. We all held our breaths for a second. We needed her to join our team. I already saw the gears in Cole's head turning at the thought of being able to use her elemental abilities in battle. We needed the extra manpower, as well as another teacher for Lloyd. And judging from the green ninja's reaction to the redhead, he'd be a lot more interested in her lessons than he would be in ours.

 _Wait, maybe I could use that to our advantage… she seems pretty arrogant._

"It's probably best that you don't join us" I baited, "it's risky having people without any confidence on the battlefield, and pint-size over there has displayed more confidence than you do."

"Who are you calling pint-size?!" Lloyd growled before he turned to her, "I think you should stay though."

Ashley rose to her feet, "I have more confidence than everyone here combined."

"Sure you do" I teased.

"Kai has a point though" Cole continued, as he obviously had caught on, "it's dangerous for someone who can't trust themselves to be out on the field. Maybe we should reconsider this."

"I'm joining you. Temporarily, anyway. I just need to call my parents and check to see if Benji is alright first, then I'll check out my new room" she countered.

"Great. I'll show you to where our phone it" Nya said and gestured to the door.

The redhead flicked her braid back, over her shoulder, before she followed my sister out of the room. Lloyd's gaze followed her with a slight frown, a faint blush still tainted his cheeks. Though he quickly sensed the attention he had gotten from his interest in the illusion master, so he left the room in the opposite direction. Hisayo followed after her son, which left the rest of us alone.

"Do you think we'll be able to convince her to stay?" Jay asked.

"Hopefully for Lloyd's sake" I joked.

Zane raised an eyebrow in confusion, "why would Lloyd be effected by Ashleena's choice?"

"We'll explain it to you later" I sighed.

"Leave her to me. I'll see what I can do to convince her to join our group. She probably is just a little frightened right now" Cole added, "and you do have a point Kai. Training the kid could be made easier with her there. We would should probably get everything else set up though"

"Do you want help with moving the bed?" I offered.

Cole shook his head, "you need to work with Lloyd's training. Jay, you get ready to go collect some of Ashley's clothing from her home. Zane, it's your night to cook, so I'll leave that to you. I'll handle the accommodation issues."

We all agreed and moved to where we were needed to follow our leader's command. Jay headed to the bridge, Zane followed to go to the kitchen, Cole went to the girl end of the Destiny's Bounty and I looked for Lloyd. He wasn't training on the deck, so I looked down in the indoor training room. The kid was there, and he looked like he had failed to set up a punching bag. Which was probably a good thing, since from what I've seen, he usually punches in ways that would break his wrist.

At least I fixed the issue that would've caused him to break his thumbs.

"Need a hand, kiddo?" I asked.

He frowned but answered, "when are you going to teach me to do cool stuff."

"Lloyd, what do you think is more effective" I started, "a palm or a fist?"

"A fist, duh"

"What if I told you that you stop someone's heart if you used your palm?"

I smirked at the wide eyed look that Lloyd gave me. The kid was smart; he was a fast learner. But he was still a kid, and he didn't seemed to realize that the most effective moves didn't always look so showy. I demonstrated various ways to utilize putting force behind your palm to stop your opponent, which included vital spots that could cause your enemy to drop in an instant. Then I explained that until he knew how to punch without breaking his wrists, he should probably stick to using his palms.

"Hey, where is your older brother? I haven't seen him around since this morning" I asked.

"Where do you think?" Lloyd tried an attack, "he snuck off to go seduce every guy he can find in Ninjago city."

It was sad to admit that I hadn't been surprised by that. I liked Dante, don't get me wrong. I could respect him as well. He was decently smart and pretty kind. But he failed to make his attraction to us subtle. Actually, I was certain that he enjoyed making us feel uncomfortable, since he did constantly tease Jay with a few flirts (and one time I pinned him down after he hit my ass with a towel. That only caused him to flirt more). He was a complete sexual deviant and he never tried to hide that fact. He just embraced it.

I was surprised when I found out that that was the reason why Lloyd refused to go to him when he had a nightmare. According to the kid himself, he had once walked in on his older brother and a few of his 'friends'. They were completely covered, no clothes had been removed, but their positioning was what had made the kid shut the door and walk away without an explanation. The incident scarred the kid for life, and that was why he went to Zane or me when he needed to be comforted after a nightmare. I didn't mind sharing my bed with the kid to get him to fall asleep. But I still couldn't believe that Dante had actually had to live with the fact that his younger brother walked in on him doing it because he'd been irresponsible. It was almost kind of funny.

 _Speaking of the kiddo and love, that reminds me about something..._

"So Lloyd, how long until you'll tell Ashley about your crush on her?" I teased.

Lloyd's face turned red again, "shut up!"

* * *

 **A/N: Chapter #3! Apocalypse is on a roll.**

 **I can't really pick a favorite Lloyd. Bratty younger Lloyd and sassy/flirty older Lloyd are both so much fun to write. At least we all see where he gets it from. And at least he is no where near the level of Dante.**

 **Thank you for your kind reviews (seriously, I love you guys). Constructive criticism is encouraged.**

 **See you next chapter, victims~**


	4. Chapter 4

[Ashley]

"Ashleena, sweetheart, are you sure about this? It sounds dangerous."

I sighed again as I listened to my parent's concern. They, as usual, acted a little overprotective and wanted to be certain that I wasn't doing anything because I was forced to. I had explained the whole situation with them, including that these ninja wanted me to join them because they believed that I had elemental abilities. I also added that I wouldn't surprised if I did. After all, I am amazingly talented. But my parents didn't seem to get that part, as they just freaked out and got upset. It frustrated me that they didn't think I'd do something so bold on my own. I'm a brave, confident, amazing girl. Of course I could do something like this if I had a reason too do it.

"Mom, I already told you that I'm sure about this. Besides, if you think about it, it's actually a lot safer. I'm surrounded by a bunch of people who can easily drive off the creatures who attacked the city. What's safer than that? Plus I'm amazing at krav maga, so I'd probably be able to take on those monster by myself. And the bonus is that I get to see inspiring sights, so it'll help inspire me with my fashion designs" I explained as looked out at the amazing view from the window, "nothing about this is bad. And I haven't agreed to anything yet, this is a trial run."

My father released a shaky breath, "Ashleena, please come home. We don't want you near those things."

I frowned, "can you put Benji on? He'd have some common sense."

I hated the long silence that followed that sentence, "Mom? Dad? Can you put Benji on?"

"Mr. Crosse had years of military experience to back up his credibility as a body guard. We're glad that you're safe, sweetheart, but... you're part of a small handful of people who weren't taken by them... and Benjamin Crosse..." my father didn't need to finish that sentence.

I collapsed onto the chair behind me, tempted to throw the cheap phone into the wall. Benji, while he joked at only being my driver, he was much more than that. I've known him since I was twelve. He had brought me presents on my birthday. He protected me against everyone that broke my heart. He comforted me when my parents were away on business trips. Benjamin Crosse was more like a big brother to me than a simple body guard. It was my fault that he had ben captured.

"We're so sorry sweetheart" my mother started, "so can you-"

I interrupted her with a harsh tone, "you'll see a ninja at your home soon. Gather up as much of my things as you can and put them in a suitcase for them. There's a high chance that it'll be a male, so I don't want them going through my stuff without my permission."

I hung up the phone and gave in to the urge I had felt earlier. The phone shattered completely with a loud crash against the wall. I placed my head in my hands, and felt myself grit my teeth together. I shook in the chair. Those monsters, the creatures the ninja called Serpentine, would pay for what they had done. Benji didn't deserve whatever kind of torture they wanted to inflict on him. Especially since it was my fault. Once again, I messed up and caused something bad to happen. This time I didn't just ruin my life, I ruined someone else's.

My heart pounded against my chest so hard that I swore my ribcage would shatter. I couldn't stop the tremors that racked my body. A sudden dizzy spell overtook me, and I felt a little nausea. I only noticed I was crying when a tear hit my hand. I wrapped my arms around myself tightly, though that didn't help at all. I sat there in tears, in a chair in an empty room. Alone.

The door burst open, "Ashley?!"

I glanced upwards for a second and noticed Cole, "Ashley, are you alright?!"

I couldn't answer that question. I just sobbed in reply. He immediately walked over and removed me from the chair so that I sat on the ground. He knelt beside me, looked me over a little bit then he ran a hand through his hair. A thoughtful expression masked his face, and he sighed as if re released something. He planced a hand on my shoulder in a comforting squeeze.

"Okay, I'm going to ask you to do a few things" he stated, "they're going to sound crazy but they will help. Can yo do them?"

I barely managed a nod before he started, "in your mind, name five things you can see."

I looked around the room. It wasn't completely empty. I noticed a large stack of chairs of different shapes and sizes over in the corner. There were a bunch of chests of draws pushed to the side. A few mirrors also were piled up by themselves. There were beanbags beside them. It seemed like the ninja had stored a whole lot of storage in this room. As I suspected it didn't take me long to think of five objects in my mind.

"Good, now list four things you can hear."

The first sound I noticed was the engine of the ship. It hummed loudly, and I realized we must be close to the engine room. The second thing I heard was a bird of prey as it cried out. I couldn't name the bird exactly. The third noise was the sound of Cole's foot as it tapped at an irregular beat against the floorboards, which I guessed he had done intentionally. The last thing I picked up on was the odd creaks the old ship made as it flew through the air. With that over, I released a shaky breath and looked at Cole.

"Now three things you can touch, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste."

The smooth material of my skirt stuck out at first, followed by the smooth material of my shirt. I grazed my hand against the floorboard and traced my hand over the lines. I shifted my focus to the next sense, the sense of smell. I picked up on the scent of my perfume. Then the odd aroma of the room, probably because it was rarely used. When it came to taste, all I could taste was my own saliva. I had considered questioning Cole on why he had instructed me to do that until I realized something. I had calmed down. I relaxed and looked at the black ninja in gratitude.

Cole gave another squeeze to my arm, "I'm sorry if we caused you to have an anxiety attack. Can you tell me what triggered it? I'll try to make sure my team avoids doing anything like that again."

"It wasn't you guys" I looked down at my feet, "I found out Benji was kidnapped by the Serpentine."

"We'll get him back, alright. We can't risk a full on attack right now, but we know that they want the people they've gathered alive. That means that we have time to save them, and we will be able to do it" he pulled me to my feet.

I smiled, "I guess it'll help to have a master of illusions, huh?"

"Are you sure you really want to join permanently? We can understand if you don't, and we promise we won't pressure you into it. We can take you home right now if you really want" Cole stated.

"I already told my parents to expect a ninja to collect my things. That's okay, right?" I asked, "and anyway, you guess would probably fail without my help. I'm amazing, and I'd easily raise your skill by a large amount."

"Jay should be leaving to pick up your stuff about now. Now that that is settled, why don't we get you set up?" he asked.

* * *

[Nya]

I entered the Bounty to see Cole and Ashley exit the storage room. I noticed the signs that she had been in tears, but I decided it would be best not to say anything. Jay had already left to go and retrieve Ashley's things from her home. We didn't need to wait for her address, after a quick search on the internet, we discovered quite a lot on her. From articles about her being a party-girl and a heart breaker, to articles about people seeing her going to therapy sessions. Apparently she was a minor celebrity, though only those who watched Ninjago city's local news would know about her. Because of that, we had easily found her address (with was beside pictures of wild parties at the said location) and had to try to not form an opinion on her based on what we read.

"Hey Nya, could you show Ashley around the Destiny's Bounty? She decided that she wants to stay and help us against the Serpentine as the ninja of illusions" Cole asked.

Lloyd perked up at that, "can I help too? Please?"

 _Why couldn't my brother have taken longer to train him?_

"Of course you can, squirt" Ashley said with a cheerful voice, "denying anyone anytime with me would be way too cruel."

Cole started to sign, _'Her arrogance is a coping mechanism. She just had a panic attack.'_

I nodded slightly before I smiled at Ashley, "I'll show you all the important things. You're in luck, Cole would probably take forever with his boring facts."

"Great, I could really use a bath as soon as possible" she sighed.

I led her around the ship and offered information on all the areas. Lloyd occasionally butted in with his own story to tell about the place. We started with the entertainment room, followed by the kitchen and dining room. After that I tackled the training area on the deck, and the two lower level training rooms. I showed her the weight room, where Cole could usually be found, and the Bridge, where we discussed our mission and kept an eye on Ninjago and Serpentine activity. That was when I decided to take her to the female side of the ship, where the girl's bathroom and the bedrooms were all located. Lloyd decided that there was no need to stay for that, which was good news for us.

"So this will be your room" I said as I opened the door.

The walls of the room where painted a soft yellow, something that didn't stand out too much. Curtains where hung on the windows, while a shelf and chest of draws where located on the wall. A bed sat in the middle of the room. Though it fit her elemental color scheme, it was undecorated for the most part. Plain and simply, which was not words I'd have used to describe the girl who would be living in it. I looked over to see Ashley's reaction.

"It'll do for now. I guess I'll have to get decorating as soon as my stuff get's here" she started, "the first thing I'm doing is getting a canopy for that bed. Maybe I could get some stencils and add gold images onto the wall. But of what? I'll worry about that later."

I laughed, "good to see that you can make it work. My room is just across from yours, so if you ever need anything, you know I'm right here. And you can go have that bath now, Jay will probably be back before you're finished."

"That quickly?" she asked, clearly sceptical.

"Jay can outrun most vehicles, and he's riding on the fastest dragon in Ninjago. He could be back at any second" I answered.

"Alright, I'll believe you. By the way, I'm very interested in these dragons, so I will be interrogating you about them later. Until then, it's time for me to relax."

As Ashley walked down the hall to reach the bathroom, I decided to relax in my room and wait for my boyfriend to return. As I suspected, I sensed a presence across the hall only a few moments after Ashley had left for her bath. I gave him enough time to settle her things in her room. That was when the blue ninja entered my room, still in uniform. I had to thank Hisayo for designing Jay's gi to be sleeveless at least on one side. He removed the articles of clothing that hide his face from view before he walked over to my bed. I rose to my feet to welcome him back with a kiss.

He wrapped his arms around me and placed us on the bed, "so how is the new member getting settled?"

"She's fine. She actually changed her mind, she wants to officially join our team" I replied.

"Huh, that's strange. I've never heard of someone changing their mind that quickly" he placed a kiss on my check, "did anything else exciting happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing really. Though I do have to say, Mr. Jay, you did have me worried during our battle with the Serpentine. I swear you're trying to give me a heart attack" I answered.

Jay's eyes glistened mischievously, "are you going to charge me for that?"

"It'll be very high too" I winked, "but I'm going to have to collect that a little later. Right now, I actually have other plans. I wanted to talk to."

"Talk to me? About what?"

"It's been a little while since our last date. Which, while it was sweet, could've gone a little smoother. I think I'd like a date where I wasn't getting kidnapped" I joked and Jay laughed, "so I was thinking that maybe we could come up with a date. Later, obviously, because we need to get Ashley settled. But after that, I'm thinking we should."

Jay smiled, "sounds fantastic. I wouldn't hate another date either."

I pulled Jay in for a hug, "perfect. Now we just need to hope the Serpentine don't ruin it this time."

Jay pulled back and eyed my lips for a moment, "would it be inappropriate to ask if you would like to collect the 'payment' for my misbehaving now? Because I am-mmph."

I was very satisfied with the muffled cry of surprise I managed to pull from Jay as I pressed my lips against his. I asked for entrance and received my answer with lightning fast speed. I pulled him closer. I moved a hand to his hair and toyed with the ends. Jay shifted his arms slightly around my waist and tilted his head for better access. I couldn't wait till we defeated the Serpentine and Thanatos. Because I was prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure a future with Jay.

* * *

 **A/N: Chapter Four. Yay~**

 **A lot has changed here. But it feels a lot better than the original version of this chapter. Especially with the extra Jaya fluff (blame MoC for that, it's her fault I'm a Jaya mood... oh who am I kidding, I'm always in the mood for Jaya). Anyway, quite obviously things will be a little bit different in the next chapter, as Ashley has already decided to join the team. But I'll make sure it's still as great as the original version. Hopefully, anyway.**

 **Btw, I totally did not change the title based on a quote in the previous chapter. It's always been 'Perception of Reality', what's with the 'Just an Illusion' idea? XD**

 **Thank you for your kind reviews (seriously, I love you guys). Constructive criticism is encouraged.**

 **See you next chapter, victims~**


	5. Chapter 5

[Cole]

I stood back with my brothers and sister as we watched Lloyd and Ashley attempt the training course. The young ninja had already had a few tries on the contraption but had not yet mastered it. Ashley, on the other hand, seemed slight confused about what direction she was meant to go in. Lloyd attempted to guide her from the sidelines but when she tried to correct herself, she was usually sent flying by something he had taken her focus off. This meant that her progress on the course was very little.

I could see Hisayo wanted us to watch. It helped us figure out what we needed to help them both with. Lloyd, we already knew was distracted quite easily and lost awareness of his surroundings frequently. Ashley, however, we knew nothing about. We currently realized that her speed was nowhere near good enough to make that her strength. And while her defense was great, that wasn't her strength either. Nya already filled in the position of specializing in attack (and Ashley seemed to not be able to top her in that regard anyway). What Ashleena was good at was stealth, which was only improved by the fact that her element allowed her to remove herself from enemy sight. Although , Ashley also clearly needed training on her awareness, before she focused on that area of her training.

We were surprised to see that not only had she been trained by an actual master of martial arts, but she had been taught to have her senses heightened as well. That saved some time for us. Along with that, she seemed to be very talented in krav maga, and managed to at least analyze the training course where she rarely repeated the same mistake twice. We all knew that she wouldn't have known anything written down about ninjitsu, but at least we could judge how much we needed to teach her.

Dante also decided to watch when Kai finally picked him up. After a quick lecture from Hisayo, who had apparently already begun on Ashley's ninja gi, he merely walked right beside us and watched his brother and our new teammates quietly. I was pretty certain that we all knew something was up with him but we decided not to press on the issue. He was somewhat mature and would tell us if it was something seriously concerning. And even if that wasn't true, I had to keep my eye on Ashley.

After all, she had an anxiety attack earlier. And while she seemed fine now, I knew there was a chance that it could just be a façade to stop people from worrying about her. I needed to make sure that we didn't do anything to trigger another one, but I also knew that there was a very slim chance that I'd be able to get the information I needed to do that from her. So I had to step back and watch, prepared to intervene the moment I sensed something was wrong. I had already instructed the others to be prepared to do the same.

Ashley had fallen to the ground once again, which forced the switchover back to Lloyd. This time, however, he seemed more determined. I noticed that there was a change in how he approached the training course as well, and this time he actually managed to get further than he usually did. At least, until he got hit in the face by the blunt side of an axe. Ashley had been the first to check on him to see if he was alright. He quickly jumped to his feet and brushed himself off, before he tried to pass of the incident as nothing much. I noticed Ashley shake her head with a soft laugh.

"Alright you two, let's bring it in" Hisayo called.

Ashley and Lloyd ran over to join us. I pushed myself of the railing, as the rest of us also decided to join them. This included Dante, who twirled his weapon with a gleeful expression. I noticed Kai rolled his eyes at that, before he moved closer to me. Was he still mad about the towel incident? Nya also shifted, instead of being right next to Jay, she was pretty close to Ashleena. Those two had decided to turn in at the same time last night, I couldn't be surprised if they decided to gossip with each other. At least they've already had a form of team bonding.

 _Why couldn't Sensei Wu have done something similar with ours?_

"Ashleena, this is my son Dante" Hisayo gestured to the oldest male on board, "he will be assisting in training, as well as the fight against the Serpentine."

Dante grinned and held out his hand, "I have no elemental powers but I do have experience. I also won't get in the way too much, I come and go as I please."

"Usually to sleep with other guys" Lloyd added.

Ashley sent a stunned look to Lloyd, "aren't you too young to know about that kind of stuff, squirt?"

"I went to Darkley's" he replied, as if that answered everything.

Ashley shrugged and returned Dante's handshake, "anyway, it's nice to meet you. And I'm sure you feel more than honored to meet me. I'm pretty amazing, so you don't have to worry about a thing. Perhaps in a few days I'll be teaching you."

"I like your attitude, Ashley" he laughed.

"Now that that's out of the way, we're partnering up. Kai, you're with Nya. Dante, you're with Jay. Cole, you handle Ashley's training today. Zane, I'm leaving you in charge of Lloyd" Hisayo sipped her tea, "any questions? Good. Let's get too it."

Everyone bowed before they moved to their own area. Dante took Jay over to the side. Zane and Lloyd occupied the back end of the ship, though Lloyd glanced behind him to check on Ashley. Hisayo pulled Ashley to the side for a moment, so Nya approached me while Kai waited over to the other side of the ship. I nodded at him and glanced at Ashley and Hisayo again, before I returned my attention on Nya.

"Ashley's anxiety issues seem to stem from an incident that happened not too long ago. Long story short, there was a nasty break up involving a guy and she started having anxiety attacks after that. They're trigged when she feels like she's messed up badly, so it's linked to failure" Nya informed with a pointed glance over her shoulder, "obviously only in certain ways, as she didn't even blink during her attempts at the training course, and she... somewhat admitted to being bad at the violin, though she never had a panic attack from that."

"Thanks for the information Nya. I'll keep that in mind when dealing with her" I replied.

As Nya walked over to return to training with her brother, I returned my attention to Ashley. She had finished her conversation with Hisayo a little while ago and had decided to stretch before we begun. I walked over to her and she stopped, her attention on me. I glanced over for a moment to see what the others were doing. Dante managed to keep Jay on his toes, but the lightning elemental didn't seem fazed at all by the attacks. Zane and Lloyd, on the other hand, where meditating. I almost cringed, I knew that that was something Lloyd was very verbal about his distaste of. Kai and Nya had only just started, so there was nothing to see. I looked at Ashley and instructed her to follow my lead.

"So what were you and Hisayo discussing?" I asked.

Ashley glanced over her shoulder for a second, "nothing much. Just that my uniform would be ready for me to try on for size soon. What about you and Nya?"

 _Should I lie or tell the truth? Either option could have consequences..._

"We were discussing you, actually" I stated, "Nya believes that your anxiety is possibly related to failure."

"I feel like I should be offended, but I do respect your honesty. And yeah, I guess that is a possibility. Though, really, I never mess up anything, so it wouldn't be a problem then" she winked before she turned serious, "honestly though, I don't think it's just failure."

"What started this? If you don't mind me asking" I reassured her.

Ashley laughed without humor, "I was a pretty serious with a guy named Heath Knight for a few years. He was the 'High-School Heartthrob' kinda guy. I pretty much worshiped the ground beneath his feet. So when I discovered that he'd been using me as a sugar mama, and that he'd been cheating on me with my best friend Caroline, who I have been friends with since I was younger than Lloyd. That's when I ended up crying my heart out."

"That must have really sucked. I'm sorry that happened to you" I replied.

"Don't worry about it. All I had to do was look in the mirror and realize how amazing I was and I was pretty good" she answered, "I rarely get anxiety attacks. They seem to happen when I make a mistake the ruins my life in a way I can't fix."

 _Ah, so it really did have to do with her bodyguard... that means she must blame herself for what happened then..._

"But what I really I want to know about is the dragons. When do I get my own?"

* * *

[Ashley]

"Do you guys do that every day?" I gasped.

I collapsed on my chair almost instantly, tired from training and hungry for dinner. I thought that they'd go easy on the new member, but apparently they didn't believe in that. While Cole had started out with instructing me how to defend, and how to read your enemy's body language, once he decided I had learnt enough he started to spar with me. I could only compare the experience to be similar to fighting a brick wall. Cole's defenses were impossible to get through, and I ended up being defeated. It didn't matter though, because I'd catch up and get revenge very soon.

"You get used to it pretty quickly. Besides, be happy that it's Zane's night to cook" Kai sighed.

Apparently Zane was the best in the culinary arts on this ship (after me, anyway). The others all seemed to praise his cooking, as they voiced their disappointment when the first meal I had with them wasn't prepared by the white ninja. They also voiced their relief that my first meal with them wasn't prepared by Cole. According to the group, the leader of the ninja was a terrible chef. Kai only had to mention something called 'duck chowder' and that managed to somewhat silence his defense against the complaints.

"Ashley, if you wouldn't mind, I've finished my work on your gi" Hisayo stated, "would you like to try it on now?"

"Of course I would!" I finally got my uniform, "let's see it!"

Hisayo handed me a box and I almost ran to my room in my excitement. I was pretty eager to see the uniform, it appealed to the fashion designer in me. After all, all the ninja looked pretty epic in their ninja garb and I knew that it wouldn't be easy to make something that was as amazing as I was. When I opened the box, I pulled out the clothes in front of me. I realized that there were layers quite quickly and got to work at putting them on. The first layer was simple and black. An undershirt that left some of my cleavage visible in a diamond shape, short shorts and tight black leggings that completely covered my feet but stopped on my upper thigh, which left a little bit of skin on my leg visible. The second layer was completely yellow. The shirt had an attached hood and completely covered my arms and torso. It even came down low, almost covering all of my shorts. It was held together by a sash, and did leave the cleavage exposed. Alone with that was yellow boots, and thick black gloves. I felt like a badass.

As soon as I finished admiring my gi in the mirror, I decided to finally showcase my outfit to everyone else. When I entered the room, I got mixed reactions. Hisayo simply smiled and nodded. Nya sent me a thumbs up gesture with a large grin. Jay and Cole both smiled kindly. Kai sent me a smirk and a slight nod of his head. Dante whistled loudly and winked, which caused everyone to laugh. Zane wasn't in the room yet. Lloyd stared for a moment before he pulled up his mask to hide his flushed face. No one commented on that reaction.

That was when Zane finally entered the dinning room. A pleasant aroma filled that air as he placed the homemade pizza on the table. I licked my lips, it looked amazing and I barely managed to stop myself from digging in. I almost missed Zane's pink floral apron, which I considered teasing him about but decided to leave him alone for the moment. If his food was as good as it looked, I would regret making him feel bad.

"Well now that Ashley has got her own ninja gi, it's time to officially make her apart of the team and get her some PJs" Jay stated.

I blinked, "excuse me? Pajamas?"

"Ignore him, he's being a moron" Kai answered.

"Hey, we all have matching pajamas!" Jay shouted, "it's only fair that Ashley does too. Plus it's very important for team bonding."

"I'm sure I'll be fine without them. Anyway, cute apron Zane" I said.

 _Sorry Zane, but for once I want the attention off of me._

At that remark, Jay busted out into a fit of laughter, which was only followed by everyone else. Hisayo at least attempted to be polite, as she held a hand in front of her mouth, while Nya just giggled softly. Zane merely sighed and continued to eat, while Lloyd started a story about the time he had managed to transform the white ninja's gi pink. It seemed like everyone here had their own little story to do with that situation, and I was surprised at how Zane managed to keep his cool. At least now I knew that nothing around here would ever be boring.

"You guys are completely crazy" I sighed.

"You know you love it" Jay grinned.

I shook my head, "maybe. But what I'm surprised about is your lack of weapons. You'd think that with how hard you guys train, you'd leave them everywhere. I completely expected to try to look for a cup and instead you'd find a blade."

Cole rose to his feet instantly, "I've got it!"

Before I could ask what, he ran out of the room and down the hall. I looked to the others but they seemed just as confused as I was. I continued to finish my meal, and caught Kai as he whispered something about the possibility of Cole being hypnotized again. That only increased my confusion, though I decided not to voice it. Most of them didn't seem to really care at all, Lloyd even attempted to reach over and steal a slice of the earth ninja's pizza. When Cole entered the dinning room again, he had a book tucked under his arm.

"You want to tell us why you ran out of here like that?" Jay asked.

"Sorry. Since that encounter at Mega Monster Amusement Park I've been trying to figure out why the Fang Blade looked so familiar" he flicked through the book, "it turns out I have a picture of one."

Cole laid his book out on the table for everyone to see. I didn't understand what the Fang Blade was, but I figured that it had something to do with the Serpentine. I would have to ask them to fill me in on the details later. Everyone else seemed impressed by Cole's discovery. More then impressed, actually, they almost seemed ecstatic. I did, however, recognise the trophy.

Kai interrupted my thoughts, "how did the Fang Blade become a trophy?"

"It's the Blade cup" I corrected.

Cole nodded, "apparently this guy called Dutch? No, Clutch, Clutch Powers found it and made it into one. Back in my hometown, once a year there's this big competition held and the winner receives it. My dad has won it multiple times."

"I didn't know your father was an accomplished athlete. What sport?" Zane asked.

I snickered a little bit, which caused some confused looks, though I didn't say anything to give it away.

"Oh, uh, he's a blacksmith" Cole muttered.

Kai spoke up, "There isn't anything wrong with that. Both of my parents were blacksmiths too but I've never heard of a–"

"That's because he's not 'blacksmith' blacksmith" I interrupted while flipping to my dad's picture, "he's a royal blacksmith. A dancer."

"That's your dad?" Jay snickered and I almost burst into laughter.

Zane, however, remained on topic, "who has it now?"

"I'm not sure. My dad would know though" Cole answered.

"Well then, ring him up and get the answers" Kai said.

"Yeah, there is a slight problem with that" Cole sighed, "my dad doesn't know I'm a ninja. He thinks I'm at Marty Oppenheimer School of Preforming Arts in Ninjago city. I have a few siblings, some older and a few younger but I always noticed that while he was proud that my siblings had talents he wanted someone to follow in his footsteps. I guess I've always felt pressured to be like him, but when I couldn't, I decided to run away and keep up the charade."

"Blood is thicker than water, Cole" Hisayo stated.

"Actually, the original version of that quote is 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb' which means–" Zane started to explain.

Hisayo coughed, "as I was saying; Cole, you don't have to tell your father about being a ninja of you don't want to. But I highly recommend it."

I smiled at him, "if you're really worried, we could go in disguise. I've seen students from that school, so I know how to dress to make us all look like we're legit students. We are shinobi, after all, so disguises are in our nature."

"Thanks for the support guys" Cole smiled, "alright, let's get to it. We've got a Fang Blade to collect."

* * *

 **A/N: Fifth chapter! Yes! I think this is the longest chapter in the book so far.**

 **Anyway, I know that this chapter is a combination of two chapters. But I don't plan on making this book a chapter shorter. Guess what the means? Up, you guess get to see a new chapter that was originally cut out. How do you feel about that? Excited? Well no matter what you feel, you'll still get to read it.**

 **Also, I'd like to point out that the technique Cole used to help Ashley deal with her anxiety is an actual technique. It's called 'grounding' and I'm kinda disappointed no one got the pun.**

 **Thank you for your kind reviews (seriously, I love you guys). Constructive criticism is encouraged.**

 **See you next chapter, victims~**


	6. Chapter 6

[Jay]

"These jeans are way too tight" I groaned.

"That's kinda the whole point" Ashley retorted, "and stop complaining, you're drawing to much attention."

Hisayo had dropped us off at the edge of Cole's home town, Terrestre. Terrestre was (considered) a small city near a large mountain range. It was more inland, like most cities in Ninjago and if you looked in the opposite direction you could just make out Ninjago city in the distance. While the city had embraced technology it wasn't as high-tech as Ninjago City, either. It was more natural and down to earth, suitable for the birthplace of the black clad ninja of the element.

After Ashleena had looked over all our clothes and stated that no one would believe we were students at Marty Whatever, she insisted that she was left in charge of our outfits. Before we had left, Cole had called his father about coming for visit. After we had gotten the 'okay' we went to almost every store we could manage in Ninjago city. All stores were way out of our price-range, but Ashley just slapped her card like it was nothing. She brought anything that she wanted and no one was able to stop her. Cole made a joke about her the illusionist being a good leader for the kunoichi, as she did know how to take charge in a situation. I really hope it was a joke.

I was tricked into wearing the tightest jeans in Ninjago history. I've worn tight jeans before, but these one were ridiculous. With the jeans were some casual sneakers, a stylish belt, a white shirt with a blue and white jacket over the top. Lloyd laughed loudly when I was forced to show off my attire. When he finally calmed down, he revealed that he had burst into a fit of laughter because I looked like a Pokémon trainer. That caused the others to laugh, especially when the redhead added a side-bag and hat that I swore came directly from the games themselves. Cole, on the other hand, had a different problem. He had the same tight jeans that I did, with a chain instead of belt and boots instead of sneakers. I had been pretty sure that his shirt had been painted on, since that was how tight it was. Any second he would probably shred out of it like the _Hulk_.

Kai seemed to have been stylized to have the bad-boy look. His jeans were also sight, he wore sneakers like me but no belt at all. The shirt that Ashley had brought him had a very low V-neck which raised eyebrows at first, until she showed off the hoodie vest she had brought. Bright red, it zipped up and, because of the shirt's neckline, gave off the appearance that he was shirtless. He was also given a red cap, to complete the look. Zane was completely different to all of us. He had been given regular jeans with a formal belt. A white, button up shirt with the top button undone (Ashley insisted) had been given to him along with a plain beanie. He looked mature and sophisticated.

I had, however, agreed with Ashley on Nya's attire.

Nya's shirt looked more like a skirt. Sliver and strapless, it was tight around the chest area and seemed to dance in the breeze everywhere else. I was just long enough to cover her rear. Which was a good thing, as Nya only wore navy blue tights that just went past her knees. Sliver flats covered her feet, with a royal blue anklet around her left foot. After a lot of complaints from a certain someone, she had been given a jacket. The sleeves covered her arms and shoulders, but that actual jacket part of the jacket was cropped so that the shirt was still visible.

Ashley wasn't so subtle. Her 'shirt' was made completely out of lace, yellow and see-through. The only thing that stopped her from giving the whole world a peepshow was a single, black shirt that clung to her like a second skin. And it only covered her chest area, her stomach was completely exposed. Her yellow skirt could be better described as a bathing suit bottom. She wore heels instead of flats, and had giant golden hoops through her ears. No jacket or anything, and she still seemed very confident with herself.

Either way, I was certain that we would have gotten less attention with we walked around in our ninja uniforms while we held neon signs. Girls stared at all of us for longer than I felt comfortable with, and boys gaze lingered on Nya and Ashley as well. There was one instance where a male did wink at me and Ashley had to decline giving a girl her number, but at least they were more polite than just staring. Nya eventually just walked over and grabbed my hand, which seemed to take some of the attention off of us both.

"Didn't you guys once mention that you had weapons that could transform into vehicles?" Ashley said as she drank from her water bottle.

Cole sighed, "yeah, they would great right now. But we can't use them anymore because they react negatively to us."

"We also could not be dropped of closer to Mr. Damiani's home as it could potentially blow our cover" Zane explained, "and our dragons would catch too much attention."

"Which really sucks for us, since it's a long walk" I complained.

It had taken a long time before we had reached our location, and I took the time to analyze the childhood home of the earth ninja. It was a fairly large house, but then again, Cole mention having a decent sized family. An older brother and sister, along with two younger sisters and a brother, made a total of six kids. And, ironically, his oldest brother was a pretty popular chef around here. Which had caused everyone to laugh at the irony. Right now, most of Cole's sibling were either at some kind of school or they were busy fulfilling their own lives, so Cole's father lived alone.

I noticed that Cole took a deep breath before he walked up to the door. He knocked loudly three times, paused for a moment, before he sighed and pressed the button on the doorbell. His doorbell and I blinked at it in surprise as Cole stepped back a bit. It hadn't been long until I heard the sound of stuff being moved around and the click of a lock. The door opened and a man the resembled Wu stood there.

"Cole. It's good to see you son, it's been too long" he greeted, "and I see you brought some friends as well. Come in, come in, I'll already have some Tikuanyin ready."

We walked inside as Cole's father lead us to what I assumed was his lounge room. Photos decorated the walls, most of them were family pictures. There were a few old ones of just two people, Cole's father and Cole's mother (most likely, based on appearance). Other than those there were a few photos of his father's quartet and the Blade Cup. I looked over at Kai, who seemed to stare at the wall sadly before returning his gaze to Mr. Damiani, who had started to hand out cups of tea.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Damiani" Zane gladly took a cup, "I am sure Cole had already told you that we are here because of our assignment."

"Please, call me Lou. And Cole, you should introduce me to your friends, you never mentioned them before" he replied.

Cole nodded, "yeah, well this is Jay, Zane, Kai, Nya and Ashley."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Lou" Ashley beamed, "though I'm sure it's a honor for you to meet me. Cole probably forgot to mention us because he just couldn't describe our amazingness in words."

"Anyway, we're doing a research paper on the history of Ninjago's talent and were wondering how could we get our hands on the Blade Cup" Cole stated.

"Get it? The Blade Cup is the symbol of harmony and talent" Lou explained, "you can't just get it. You have to earn it. In this year's Ninjago talent show. Is this why you all came? When you heard about my injury you decided to take our place?"

Before Cole could counter, Kai interrupted, "yeah. We want to bring home the gold and we'd like you to train us."

While his father seemed excited at that remark, Cole sent a glare directed at the fire ninja. Kai ignored it, unfazed, as he looked over at the rest of us. I sighed, I was alright with dancing. Most of us would be as it wasn't that much different from fighting. But the other preforming arts were what scared me. Zane and Kai, I knew they could sing, I was unsure about Cole and Ashley, and Nya seemed so embarrassed she refused to let me hear it. I however, was not the best singer in the world*.

"This makes me so proud" Lou said, "Cole, I almost forgot, I had something important I've been meaning to tell you. And I would like to discuss this privately."

Cole stiffened and his father sighed, "don't start with that. I haven't even said anything."

"Yeah, but I get the feeling that I know how this conversation is going to go. What do you want, dad?" Cole stated.

"You've always been the more reasonable of your siblings. And every time they meet someone I'm interested in, they've always gone to you on how to react. If you won't give the girl a chance, they won't" he started.

"So you want me to meet another girlfriend of yours?" the earth ninja asked.

Lou sighed again, "Alicia is different, and you should at least meet her before you decide what you think. I loved your mother, but it is time for me to move on with my life. I think I deserve some happiness."

Cole sighed, nodded, and folded his arms. I looked around in an attempt to find something to distract me. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea. Ashley stared at herself in a pocket-sized mirror, Nya seemed extremely interested in her chain necklaces, Kai played with zipper as if it was the most interesting thing the world. Zane was just relaxed, unfazed by the whole event.

We obviously were skilled masters of stealth, able to hide our discomfort in awkward situations.

"Will you all be staying here? I have more than enough room, if needed" Lou offered.

"Only if that is alright with you" Zane answered.

Lou laughed, "of course it is. You might have to share though, I hope that won't be a problem?"

I grinned as I looked over at the others in the corner of my eye, "trust me, that's not going to be a problem."

Lou took us to the second floor of his house after he showed us where everything important was. He led us all down a long, well-lit hallway. He stopped at the first door, and let the girls take their stuff inside to get ready for bed. He led us further down the hallway until we reach another door. We were told that Kai and I would share the room. Zane ended up roommates with Cole, which neither seemed to mind.

Kai and I quickly decided each other's side of the room and unpacked our stuff rather quickly. While we planned to only stay for a little while, Lou allowed us to use these rooms so I figured we might as well go all out. I placed all of the clothes I brought with me in the draws and hid a box with them. I turned around, Kai had already finished and looked over at me with an intense look that I couldn't read. I felt slightly uncomfortable because of it as he walked closer, until he had reached the door.

"Just remember what I said" he stated before he left.

I sighed, still slightly confused about where Kai stood on my relationship with Nya but at least he hadn't tried to stop me. In fact, it almost sounded like he encouraged it more than anything. I shook my head; I wasn't going to allow myself to be concerned with Kai right now. There were far more important things to think about. I decided to work up my courage and walk down the hallway to Nya and Ashley's current room. When I knocked on the door, Nya opened it and graced me with her smile.

"Hey Jay" she greeted, "what's up?"

"Well, remember when you said you'd like to go on a second date? I figured that since our mission currently relies on us doing normal stuff, we might as well go on a normal date. I did remember that I promised you a nice restaurant, and there's one here that we could go to. So, uh, do you want to go?" I asked.

"I was actually just about to ask you the same question" she laughed, "and of course I would Jay."

"And, of course, I'm going to help her get ready" Ashley pipped, which terrified the both of us.

"Ashleena–"

"You need my help, whether you admit it or not. Tomorrow we'll wake up nice and early and spend the whole day out shopping. And don't try to get out of it, this is an important team bonding experience. This is going to be so much fun" the redhead squealed.

* * *

 **A/N: Chapter six. And I hope you're all excited because the next chapter will be something no one has read before.**

 ***Anybody else noticed that the voices were messed up in ' _The Royal Blacksmith_ '? The order the ninja sing in is actually Zane, Kai then Jay. **

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know I enjoyed writing it. It makes me so excited for the date. Too bad that there is another chapter before Jay and Nya's date. I love this pairing so much. And while, yes I did change the ninja's outfits a little bit, I kept the tight jeans the fans said that they loved. You're welcome.**

 **Thank you for your kind reviews (seriously, I love you guys). Constructive criticism is encouraged.**

 **See you next chapter, victims~**


	7. Chapter 7

[Nya]

"Why does this have to be so difficult? This is the seventh store we've tried, how haven't we found anything yet?"

Despite the fact that Ashley had bags piled beside her feet, the illusion master had not been satisfied with our day out. Apparently nothing that I tried on seemed to make her happy. None of these outfits 'emphasised my natural beauty' (her words, not mine) and therefor, weren't acceptable for me to wear on my date. While I did appreciate the effort, I was certain that Jay wouldn't have minded what I had decided to wear. It just had to be acceptable in a restaurant setting.

I noticed that Ashley hadn't just looked for outfits for me. A few shirts that could only fit Cole had been tossed in one bag, while a sweater vest that screamed Zane had been thrown in another. I almost laughed when I caught her attempt to hide the fact that she had brought the pajamas Jay had told her about. But I changed my mind when I realized she would have probably returned it the second I did. She had found me some jewellery and shoes that she decided where perfect, but other than that I had nothing. The redhead was determined to find me the perfect dress though.

 _She'd make a good wedding planner._

"Looks like we'll have to try the next store" Ashley sighed, "don't worry Nya, we'll find it soon."

I laughed, "trust me, I'm not too worried about that."

That was the truth. I wasn't too worried about how long it would take to find the outfit Ashley liked. I had been more worried about the price she'd spend on it. Ashley's taste was not cheap, she liked to look at the expensive clothes. The stores we had visited were stores I wouldn't have gone into under any other occasion. And she exploited her card and easily brushed off the cost as nothing. I was worried that the redhead would buy a dress worth more than the Bounty.

As we entered another store that was filled with designer outfits, one of a kind dresses and luxury materials, we decided that it would be a good idea to split up. I had no idea what I wanted, everything looked so out of my league. I had felt out of place amongst the clothes, like I had entered a different world. One that I didn't belong in.

I had lived in a small, remote village for most of my life. Ignacia was the kind of village that no one had ever heard of, and many people could live their whole lives and never step foot in it. The villagers mostly kept to themselves and we rarely got travellers. I wouldn't say I was raised in poverty. I always had a roof over my head, Kai made sure I was well fed and I always had clean clothes. But it wasn't a luxury experience, it was constant hard work and little sleep. And I knew that my relationship with Jay wouldn't lead to mass amounts of wealth. But I didn't need that to be happy, and I was more than happy to work hard and accomplish something with my life.

"Nya! You have got to come here and try on this dress!"

I sighed, fully prepared to play doll again for the redhead and I walked through the store until I had found my target. Ashley wouldn't let me get a good look at the dress and forced me into the changing room. As I shuffled into the dress, I decided to humor Ashley and avoided looking at the dress as much as I could. After I finished, I exited the changing room and walked in front of the mirror after Ashley's gasp.

It was a beautiful lace cheongsam dress in a rich, royal blue color. It wasn't traditional, a more modified variation of it. A large portion of my back was exposed, my arms were free. Instead of two lengthy slits down the sides like a traditional cheongsam, it had a laced, mermaid skirt. With the silver and blue jewellery Ashley had brought, Jay wouldn't be able to keep his eyes off me.

"It's stunning Nya. You'll look amazing in that. I have to get a photo, it's beautiful" she squealed.

I blushed, "Ashleena, don't you dare."

I was blinded by a bright flash, "too late. This is amazing, I have to show everyone. After you stun Jay with the real deal, of course. Oh your brother is going to kill me, and murder Jay. The night might end with you and Jay walking down the aisle."

"Ashley, that's not going to happen. Not tonight, anyway. I'm still working on the ring" I sighed.

"I know, but it's so pretty so far and this would be the perfect opportunity to do it. There's no way that Jay would be able to say no to you like this" Ashley grinned.

* * *

[Cole]

I sighed as I looked over at the other families that played around the park. I was seated at a park bench, as I waited patiently for my father and his partner to arrive. I had promised my father I'd meet her, but I hadn't realized that he had meant to fulfil that statement as soon as possible. Zane, Kai and Jay were left alone, so I was a little worried what those three would do if they were bored. I trusted them and everything, but sometimes they could make my life a living hell. And they usually did it intentionally for laughs.

Sometimes I felt like I was just a babysitter rather than a leader. Jay and Kai used to get into fights over Nya (hell, Kai could get into a fight over anything if he tried). The constant competitions sometimes got a little out of hand and I had to shut that down before it got serious. I loved than and everything, they were my brothers, but sometimes they seemed to like to pick on the leader. At least Zane was somewhat more tamed about it. But Kai and Jay, they seemed to love to make my life a living hell.

Especially after the stunt they pulled. I know Jay can play the guitar, I know Zane can sing and according to Nya Kai can sing and dance a little. But when my dad asked them to display their skills... the only way Jay could've embarrassed me more is if he attempted the Macarena...

"Cole, there you are. I expected you to choose a seat a little closer" my father's voice called.

I turned around to face my father and his partner, then quickly had to mask my surprise. The woman beside him had aged well, black hair braided down her back, as she wore a rich red shirt and denim jeans. Her green eyes flashed with recognition, though she didn't voice it. I knew her. In my early years of ninja training, Zane, Jay and I had stopped a thief in a not-so-remote village that was a shortcut between Terreste city and Ninjago city. I had removed my mask to gain the trust of a tourist who obviously had decided to move from Ninjago to Terreste city.

 _Just my luck, of course it's the one woman in this city who'd know that I had lied to my father._

Alicia held out her hand, "it's nice to meet you, Cole Damian."

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too" I replied, slightly cautious.

My father sat down, "I'm happy that I got you two to meet. Anyway, Cole, why don't you tell Alicia about your studies at school? In fact, I don't think you've really mentioned them that much to me, so I'd like to hear about them as well."

Before I could counter, Alicia spoke up, "not to be rude, but I don't think that's a good idea. Talking about work, school or otherwise, is never a good way to really get to know someone."

 _So she's covering for me... but why?_

"I suppose you do have a point" my father stated, "maybe next time we can discuss that topic."

The conversation switched, away from me for the most part (which I was glad about) as Alicia Jones ended up in the spotlight. She met my father at dance lessons he had decided to teach, and after awhile they became closer. She was an experienced veterinarian who went to left Ninjago city to Terrestre city hopes to help out around here. From what I understood, my father had been drawing to not only her flare, but her compassion and kindness. She wanted to give more than she wanted to take. That would explain why she hadn't decided to blow my cover.

I didn't hate her. In fact, I liked her a lot more than the other girls my father had picked up over the years. And I was pretty sure my siblings would be more than happy to meet her and welcome her into the family. She wouldn't replace other mother, but she could help my father with taking care of himself. And at least if we ever had a pet, we'd know where to go to get a discount on the vet bills.

At one point my father left to go get some food and drinks for us. When he was out of ear range, Alicia spoke up, "you really shouldn't lie to your father. Unless dressing up as a ninja is an extracurricular activity?"

"I have my own reasons for it" I replied.

"You know, he was really excited when he heard you wanted to visit. This is the first time you've done it in years..." she looked over at me, as if trying to study me.

I gave her a blank mask, "I have a team to take care of, and other responsibilities. As glad as I am to be back home, I'm here because something dangerous is here."

She sighed before she managed a smile for my father as he returned with the food and drinks. Ramune of different flavors. Before I meet Kai and Nya, I had never tried any before. But now I recognized the drink and I knew that my favorite was the orange flavor. I picked up the original flavored drink and pop it open. My father and his date enjoyed the lychee flavored drinks.

"Know, what were we talking about again?" my father asked.

* * *

 **A/N: Pretty short, I know. But anyway, chapter seven everyone.**

 **I don't have much to say on this chapter. Other than I have tried ramune, and it's amazing. I haven't tried every flavor (there are thirty-seven different flavors) but I have tried quite a few of them. They're awesome and really tasty. I don't really like the strawberry flavor though... But melon and orange have to be my favorite. I think I may have an addiction to them...**

 **Pocky is another Japanese food product that I love. I've tried a variety of that as well... it's weird that I'm not completely against strawberry flavored pocky, yet I can't stand strawberry flavored ramune.**

 **Also, going through the reviews... not a lot of people seem to upset with Benji's capture... oh well, we'll see him again anyway...**

 **Anyway, Jaya date is up next. Followed by an attack from the Serpentine... oh, and we meet one of the big-bad characters...**

 **Thank you for your kind reviews (seriously, I love you guys). Constructive criticism is encouraged.**

 **See you next chapter, victims~**


	8. Chapter 8

[Nya]

I sighed as Ashley brushed my hair in time with the music she decided to play. After almost a whole day of dancing while I couldn't concentrate properly, I was really excited. I wasn't sure what of, but I felt like something big happen tonight on my date with Jay. I was always happy to be in his company but this was just amazing. Terrestre was considered one of the more romantic cities in Ninjago and had a large variety of areas appropriate for dates. With the outfit I had brought (or rather, Ashley had brought as a nice gift) I felt confident and at ease. There wasn't a single thing that could've changed that.

"You know, I do have connections right? I could totally set you up with a really nice hotel nearby" the redhead grinned in the mirror, "just in case anything get's exciting."

I whipped around to face her, "that is not going to happen!"

"Not around here. If your brother got sus, he'd walk right in on it and kill your boy-toy. That's why you have to do it at a hotel" she started to remind me of the Cheshire Cat with her expression.

"Not happening anywhere. Jay and I are not ready for that step in our relationship" I retorted.

A knock in the door interrupted the conversation. Ashley walked over and opened it, before she motioned entry. Jay stayed in the doorway, still in the room. He wore a black suit with a royal blue vest and tie. His hair hadn't been styled this time, but he stilled looked handsome despite that. Jay's expression was the best part. His sapphire eyes flashed and widened, his lips slightly parted and silent and a faint blush tainted his cheeks. That was what I found the most attractive. I bushed as he looked me up and down, twice, before I walked over and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"So, shall we go?" I asked.

Jay smiled, "we shall. We'll have to walk a bit, I hope that's alright with you."

I laughed and linked arms with him, "didn't I once say that I was in your hands? Take me wherever you want, Mr Walker."

Jay grinned, "my pleasure, Ms. Ninomiya."

With that, with blue warrior led me away. I looked over my shoulder to see the master of illusions as she flashed me a 'thumbs up', her eyes glistened with amusement. When we left the Damiani house, we made our way through the streets of Terreste city. It was quiet, streetlights allowed clear view of pathways through the city. The natural, earthy feel, of the city relaxed me as I took a deep breath. Surprised by the pleasant scents I picked up on, I looked over at the man who held my heart. I couldn't believe that I had never planned on finding a partner. How it never crossed my mind astounded me. I was glad that that had changed, otherwised I never would've felt that way I did.

As we rocked up to what could only be the most expensive restaurant in Terreste city, I almost tripped over my own feet. However, Jay's smile never faltered, and he casual spoke about a reservation. There wasn't any confusion, it was quick and simple, and I stared up in amazement at the man who held my heart. I looked around for any fault in the restaurant, something that could have decreased the cost. I found none, everything seemed beautiful. It was confused, I knew Cole wouldn't have let Jay get a little extra cash just for a date, and I knew Jay didn't have much to begin with. Ashley hadn't left my side at all, so he couldn't have asked her. Unless he had planned this in advance?

"Wondering how I managed to get a reservation?" Jay winked, "you remember when Cole said his brother was a famous chef and we didn't really believe him? Well, as it turns out, he was telling truth. I was surprised when I found out, but after talking to Cole and Lou about it, they easily convinced him to get us a reservation."

I shook my head, "you'd think he'd have a general idea about cooking if his brother is good at it."

"I know right. But hey, our strong leader can't be good at everything" Jay snickered.

I had been about to reply when the scenery changed. Most of the restaurant had been inside, and very beautiful, but what had appeared before my eyes topped it all. It was a balcony with a table, very private compared to the other areas. The view was stunning, I was certain if I tried I could've spotted Lou's home. The railing were wrapped with fairy lights, giving a slightly magical touch. On the table fire flickered on the candles, as the slight breeze caused the flames to dance. Food had already been laid out, which was a pleasant surprise as well. I licked my lips at the sight and glanced up at my partner.

"It's amazing, Jay" I said, "it's perfect. Thank you."

"Don't thank me just yet, there's still more to come" Jay smiled.

Jay moved, pulled out a chair for me to sit on, and tucked it in when I followed through with a laugh at his chivalry. He was seated across from me, the dim light caused his pupils to appear more dilated. We decided to dig in to our meal almost immediately, starved after all the dancing and training (which was done in secret) we had to do. The food tasted great, almost as great as Zane's own cooking. I licked my lips and eyed Jay over the candles. Slightly flushed, with his sapphires trained on me. My own face heated up at the attention.

We started to talk. The conversation was light, we strayed away from the ninja area and focused on more lighter topics. A few jokes about the possibility of setting up my brother with an elemental kunoichi, a little debate on the chances of Lloyd actually being mature as an adult or a flirt like his brother, and a small discussion on our dragons. After all that, we moved onto more casual topics. The kind of things that most people would discuss on dates. I felt at ease the whole time. Jay knew how to make me feel like I could display my every flaw and weakness, while still feeling strong.

Jay rose to his feet, which caught me off guard, "could you close your eyes for a moment?"

I felt ridiculous, but I listened to his request anyway. For a heartbeat, nothing happed. Just silence, as if everything had paused. Something dropped to the ground, but I heard the sound of cloth being ruffled and guessed that Jay must have moved and retrieved it. There was silence and stillness once more, before I sense Jay as he approached me. Then something cool was lightly placed around my neck, Jay's warm breath tickled my ear as he did so. The warmth disappeared, and I realized that Jay had returned to his seat as I heard the sound of his chair scrape against the floor.

"You can open your eyes now" he stated.

I reacted instantly, my eyes opened as I looked in the glass across from me. Around my neck was a simple, but beautiful, silver necklace with a sapphire pendant. I slowly reached and brushed my fingers against it, my face heated up once again. I returned my focus to the man across from me. Jay almost seemed worried, but my expression must have fixed that as he relaxed as soon as he saw my face. I was tempted to throw myself in his arms at that moment.

"It's stunning Jay" I reached over and placed my hand over his, "I can't thank you enough."

"It's nothing compared the beauty I'm looking at right now" Jay whispered.

I moved from my own chair, walked around the table, and leaned over as I pressed my lips against his. My eyes fluttered shut, and Jay wrapped his arms around me. As much as I wanted to do more with him, I knew that I couldn't at that moment. We lacked the privacy. So I reluctantly pulled away from him, and rested my head against his forehead as I regained my own breath.

"I love you Jay. More than I think I can describe with words" I whispered, "I love you."

He licked his lips, "I feel the same Nya. I love you more than you realize."

* * *

[Jay]

"You know, for a ninja who is constantly faced with danger, you're a huge coward."

I ignored the comment Kai had made as I finished getting ready for bed. I knew I couldn't argue with him, even if I wanted to, so it was best to focus on something else until he let it go. If he let it go. My date with Nya had ended a little while ago and the human torch seemed determined to remind of what I had failed to do. I returned the ring to it's hiding spot, slightly ashamed that I couldn't follow through with what I had planned. I could face an army of Serpentine without any fear, yet I freaked out and backed down when I had the chance to propose to my girlfriend.

Kai rolled over and faced me, "I even said that I was rooting for you. How did that not give you any motivation?"

"I don't know, I just couldn't ask her" I sighed, "maybe it's too soon? Besides, it's not like I didn't give her anything. She liked the necklace."

"Oh wow, the necklace. The definitely tops the proposal. Did you completely forget the conversation we had?" Kai questioned.

 _Kai followed me into my room, as quietly as I had asked. He remained silent and sat on my bed as I searched through my draws to find what I needed. This could be the only chance I'll get to talk to the red alone. As soon as I found the box, I grinned and turned to him. I gave him the box, he inspected it, opened it with eyes narrowed in suspicion. Sitting inside the box was a beautifully crafted ring, with different blue gemstones. It had been expensive, but I knew it had been completely worth every penny._

 _"This is for my sister" he stated, not a question, but I answered anyway._

 _"Yeah it is" my hand moved to the back of my head, "I was wondering... do I have your blessing?"_

 _Kai looked up at me, his eyes practically on fire, "Jay, I'll protect my sister no matter what. I'll always feel the need to do that. It will be hard for my to give that up. But... you're good for her. You protect her, care for her and make her laugh._ _The moment she saw you, she let you in close to her heart and you've only managed to get closer. I that how you feel in genuine and that she feels that same way. From the day you asked her out, you've had my blessing."_

 _"Really?" that had not been what I was expecting._

 _Kai smirked, though the look in his eyes was predatory, "you think I would've let you go on a date if I didn't think you were worthy. Trust me, I would've put a painful stop to it if I didn't think so."_

 _"Thank goodness" I sighed in relief._

 _"But, if you break her heart, I will break every bone in your body" he continued._

 _I laughed, "yeah, I figured you would say as much."_

"I remember what you said Kai. Trust me, you made it clear. But I just couldn't do it tonight" I answered.

Kai sighed, "you've known her for awhile Jay, and you've both been through a lot of stuff together. You're closer than most couples would hope to be."

"Shouldn't you be against this?" I mumbled.

"If you weren't you, then yeah, I would be" he replied.

I collapsed into my own bed and stared up at the ceiling. The room was filled with silence, though I felt the heated glare of a fire ninja who hated that I ignored him on such an important conversation. I was worried though. I loved Nya. But I didn't want to case her away by asking a question that we weren't ready for. I just needed a bit more time. Then I could ask her without fear.

* * *

 **A/N: I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN ALMOST A MONTH SINCE I LAST UPDATED! I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON!**

 **Good thing this chapter contains a lot of Jaya fluff.**

 **Anyway, sorry for the lack of updates. Blame my betas. Well the betas that are reading my own original novel. I plan to make up for it though, I will try to write as much as possible. Fluffy one-shots? Updates on other stories? Maybe a crack-fic? I don't know, I don't care. You guys tell me what you want. BTW, anyone know what's up with the emails?**

 **Two more chapters to go. And we get to meet villains, evil experiments, training, and maybe a dance off (I'm joking... kinda tempted to do it though). Let's have some fun with this. I know I am...**

 **Thank you for your kind reviews (seriously, I love you guys). Constructive criticism is encouraged.**

 **See you next chapter, victims~**


	9. Chapter 9

[Ashley]

"Okay, how about this one" I started, "how much does Zane weigh? Enough to break the ice."

"I can't believe we're actually listening to this" Cole muttered.

It was the day of the talent show, and everyone was dressed up all nice. Nya and I had convinced Cole's father that only the boys need to preform. After all, Nya wasn't feeling to well and I couldn't take the spotlight away from them. So the boys ended up in cute, matching outfits that were slightly laughable. The ninja were disappointed that we had thrown them under the bus, but when I mentioned that someone needed to keep watch backstage to ensure that nothing went wrong, Cole started to work out a strategy and I was off the hook. We had time to kill, however, and both Nya and I could resist the temptation of the boy's rehearsal. Unfortunately, it seemed that Jay was the only one who appreciated my funny, and original, pick-up lines.

 _Of course the others don't understand my genius..._

"Guys, we should really focus. We have to get ready to steal the Fang Blade so we need to be on high alert. Especially since I bet the Serpentine won't be able to stay away" Cole stated.

"What, you don't want to even try and win?" Jay asked.

"Look, the only dance I want to do is called 'get me out of this nuthouse and let's burn these memories from my head'" he called.

I looked past his shoulder and grimaced at what was followed, "what?"

"Dad?!" Cole exclaimed.

Lou walked over to us slowly, a woman trailed behind him. The way he looked at Cole was full of shame and disappointment. The woman just frowned, but didn't make a comment. I cringed, Cole had seemed to calm down since his outburst but this only added to the drama of what was going on between these two. And if that lady was who I thought it was, it could only make things worse. Our mission, and our leader's family, was at stake here. As much as I'd love to stay out of it, I knew that we'd all have to intervene if things got to out of hand.

"I can explain–"

"You were going to steal it?" Lou asked.

"Dad, I didn't mean for you to hear that. But I'm glad you did. There's something I've been wanting to tell you. All these years I haven't been training to be a singer or a dancer. I found something new that I am really good at" Cole spun a powerful tornado of earth and changed into his ninja gi, "Dad, I'm a ninja. And the truth is, if we don't steal that Fang Blade, I mean Blade Cup, there's other people that will. Bad people. Serpentine. We need it to save the world. I know how ridiculous this sounds, but I'm proud of who I am, and I want you to be proud of me too."

"How could I be proud of any son who thinks stealing is right?" Lou stormed off.

The woman smiled sadly, "I'll talk to him. I can't promise much though", then she followed Lou out.

"Ouch" I muttered, "but I get a strange sense of déjà vu."

Kai placed a hand on the earth master's shoulder, "Hey man, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. We got more important things to worry about" he replied, "We need to get to work. Ashley, Nya, you two keep an eye out for our reptilian friends. They can't get this Fang Blade. Boys, we're focusing on the competition. We're going to win this thing."

I smiled at the earth master before I left to investigate the backstage area. There were a lot of performers, which only showcased how important this event was. If the Serpentine planned an attack, there would be a lot of civilians in danger. And that was just counting the numbers, the fact that the location was an indoor building with a limited amount of exists, the Serpentine could seriously ruin everything. They proved a point in Ninjago city, they terrified millions of people and made the public aware of their existence. If they attacked here, they would ruin this day and event for future generations.

I cleared my head of those thoughts. Now wasn't the time to worry about what the Serpentine might do. We didn't discover where they kept people they had taken, nor had we discovered why they had taken them. But we knew that for some reason, they needed those people alive, so we couldn't make them our priority right now. Though I had argued about that for awhile, I understood why we needed to. Still, I missed Benji and I still felt horrible that he had been kidnapped by them. At least I knew that, with the ninja, I'd get a chance to fix that and save him.

Nya and I noticed a small group called 'Treble Makers'. At first glance, they looked like a boy band with a really good make-up artist. Though it became clear quite quickly that we had spotted four of the Serpentine, and I highly doubted that they would be the only ones. I went to fight them to get questions, but Nya stopped me. She pointed out that they obviously would want to keep their cover as much as we would, so they probably wouldn't attack people at mass yet. Nya also pointed out that we needed the boys to know what was going on as well. When we found them they were in their ninja gi, hoods and masks up, in conversation. After we exchanged what we both knew, everyone seemed to relax a bit. Pythor apparently had taken place of a judge, while Skales and three of his henchmen decided to hide in the audience. Clearly they decided to cheat and avoid attention from the ninja, rather than kill and steal. A smart move, but that meant that we'd need to make sure that the other judges gave the boys a perfect score in order to win.

When the ninja were finally called to the stage I heard loud screams from the crowd, especially from all the females in the audience. I rolled my eyes, the ninja went on stage in their gi so I knew that a fan website dedicated to them was going to be spammed with pictures after the performance. Actually, now that I thought about it, with the ninja's rising popularity why don't I take advantage of it? I'm sure they wouldn't mind a few photos. In fact, once our team is complete I bet I could make a lot of money off of it. I bet couple photos would go for even more. No need to be too picky though, if someone doesn't get a partner, I just upload a photo of them looking sad onto that website before selling more pictures of them. Yeah, I'm a genius. A soon to be (even more) rich genius.

I grinned when the ninja returned, Cole held the Blade Cup in his hands while the others praised him. Nya and I both laughed when we saw the ninja's suggestive dance at as they cheered about winning and getting the fang blade. They had just saved Ninjago from a great evil, we were able to relax now. There was nothing Pythor could do without all the fang blades in his possession.

"Now that was a showstopper."

Cole passed the trophy to Jay and turned around, "Dad?! You saw me dance?"

"More importantly, I saw you fight" he stated, "I'm sorry if I put too much pressure on you to follow in my footsteps. But I couldn't be any prouder of you. My son is a hero"

"Not to mention a master of earth, leader of the ninja and a great dancer and artist" Jay added with a laugh.

The two chuckled at that, before they embraced each other in a quick hug. I felt myself smile, happy that Cole's relationship with his father was patched up. I noticed the other's expressions and knew that they had all felt the same way. Nya and Jay just grinned while they held hands, Zane looked like a proud big brother, while Kai wore a smirk. Not his usual, arrogant one, but a more kind and brotherly smirk. It was obvious that this group wasn't just a clan. These guys were a family.

"Oh, I am so sorry to interrupt this little family moment" a Serpentine hissed, "but it's me, Pythor!"

"It's too late, Pythor. We have the fang blade, and we're putting a stop to your plans" Cole stated.

Pythor chuckled, "let's see about that. NOW!"

We were surrounded. A large group of Serpentine seemed that practically came out of nowhere appeared, weapons drawn. Cole called out orders, Nya and Jay were supposed to stick together, while Kai and Zane handled their own group. Cole stated that he'd be on his own, and told me that I'd play lookout. At first I didn't understand what he meant, so I was surprised when Kai had lifted me off the ground. The red ninja surprised me even further when he jumped onto the rafters. Lou and his girlfriend followed, thanks to Cole and Zane's help. The things these guys could do was incredible, if a bit terrifying.

"Hey, you know I won't be able to get down from here by myself right?" I stated.

Kai nodded, "you're not meant to. Cole wants you to tell us what you can see from up here."

"Shouldn't I be fighting?" I glared.

"As much as we could use your help, you've never probably been in a fight with the Serpentine before. Not to mention you haven't trained long enough with us either. And we can't have you breaking down in the middle of a battle" he responded.

"I'm not going to break down" I retorted.

The look he gave me was enough to silence my protests, "You will have to kill them. You may think you understand that, but you really don't. Everyone reacts to taking a life differently - it's not a simple thing to do. So, until we're sure you won't completely collapse and break down, we need you up here where you can experience a battle with out being in danger."

Without another word, Kai returned to the battle with a snarl, and took down two Serpentine as he landed. He didn't stick the landing, instead he rolled, and swept his blade out, which sent the Serpentine back. On his feet again, he hacked and sliced his way through to Zane. Zane allowed his shurikens to take care of enemies from a distance, while he handled enemies up close with his powers and fighting skills. Nya and Jay were amazing. Jay was a blur as he danced around attacks and landed his own before the bad guys realized he had moved. Nya was like her brother - minus the animalistic noises - she master her attacks and elements to remove all her enemies. Cole stood alone, but he still stood out. No one could get through his defense, and his scythe cleanly cut through the masses like they were nothing. However, I had noticed something that made me a little sick to my stomach at the idea of it.

I turned on the ear piece that Jay had given me, "Guys, I'm seeing multiple. The snakes you're fighting look exactly the same."

"I have noticed that as well. A few seem to share same markings and scarring" Zane added.

The was a few curses before Cole spoke up, "we'll deal with that later, right now we need to get rid of them."

"Uh... this is a first... but that might be easier done than said" Jay added, "a group of them just collapsed over here. They're dead."

"Same thing just happened over here? What the hell is going on?" Kai exclaimed.

Before anyone could add anything else, a mass amount of the Serpentine just died. Dropped to the ground on the spot, twitched a bit, before they just died. Not all of them were dead, a few still had their weapons raised at the ninja. But no one moved at all. It was completely silent. Until I heard the sound of high heals against the floor as someone approached. I panicked for a moment, worried that an innocent woman was about to be scarred for life. A woman appeared, pen in hand as she wrote something on the clipboard. She stopped right beside Pythor. I had to admire her taste in fashion, a black pencil skirt, dark red button-up shirt looked good on her. The lab coat seemed a bit of overkill, and so where the styled black glasses. Her auburn hair had been pulled back into a neat bun, while her green eyes looked bored.

"Only alive for a couple of hours. A shame really, I had hoped for a bit longer" she stated, "though that doesn't matter, I can figure out how to increase their life expectancy. Shouldn't be too long before I figure out how to make them last for at least a few days."

"Sorry if I'm mistaken, but it's looks like you're kinda working with the Serpentine" Jay started, "which would be ridiculous, because no human would ever work for them."

The caused a reaction from her. A bit of amusement snuck into her flat tone, "you'd be surprised about how correct that statement is."

Pythor seemed annoyed, "We had a agreement. Though that might change. After all, Mallory, you never mentioned anything about them collapsing."

"Dr. Valentine to you, Pythor" she replied, "It's the first batch, you can't expect it to be perfect. Now if you be so kind to get your goons to collect the undamaged specimen so that I could fix the issue. Beside, we have the trophy, so it doesn't matter."

I jumped at that last statement, before I looked around the backstage area. The trophy was nowhere to be seen. The Serpentine reengaged in combat, while a few suck out some the dead and Pythor and Mallory escaped from the conflict. There was a loud, primal yell and Serpentine caught on fire left and right as Kai took them out. He looked as wild and untamed as his element was meant to be. Even the others stayed out of his way for the most part. The Serpentine had disintegrated into piles of ash within minutes and everyone looked at their fiery brother in awe.

"Come back the Bounty" Hisayo's voice came over, "I think we need to talk about what happened."

Kai fell to the floor, legs crossed and his hands made a weird gesture. The flames dimmed and the temperature in the room dropped back to normal. Cole, checked on his father, while Zane and Jay collected me and Lou's girlfriend from out places. So that was a usual battle for them. They were powerful and strong, and it would take me a while to get onto their level. Especially with the control of their elemental powers. I was almost scared of my own now, worried that they could go all haywire Kai's had. The worst part was, I knew that wasn't Kai's full power. That was just the tiny bit that managed to slip out.

* * *

[No POV]

A woman in a cloak observed the building that hosted the Ninjago Talent Show from her location. A few hours ago, the group of young elementals had just confuted their biggest enemy yet. A dangerous snake that would destroy them when she decided that they longer had any purpose. She was concerned, to say that least, but that hadn't been the only reason why she called the meeting.

"Been awhile since we last spoke, hasn't it?"

She didn't need to look behind her to know that a man stood behind her. His pride had only increased since they last spoke, he didn't even bother with something to cover his face. He had always been careless like that. He wasn't just hunted by what hunted her, but the police as well. Though they both know he escape from both, she had noticed the increase in her own surprise attacks. She couldn't stay in one place for longer than a few days before they found her again.

"The Alpha, has made an appearance. Not only to us, but to the chosen ones as well" she stated.

He muttered a curse, "I had been wondering why I couldn't catch a break. Determined little bitch, I'll give her that. How are Wu's new pets doing, anyway?"

"Hisayo is training them. And the master of air and illusion has joined them, as well as the green ninja" she stated, "do you know anything about the last two kunoichi?"

"I don't have any clue who the master of nature could be. The previous one died before she had children, and the only two related to her that could have potential are not… ideal… elemental masters" he answered, "the master of spirit not only had had her elemental powers unlocked for years, but she's also had the training to be able to fight against the serpentine."

"I feel sorry for her. She's suffered a lot. Becoming the purple kunoichi might break the girl" the cloaked figure sighed.

"Give her some credit. She'll survive. They all will."

She nodded before she turned to finally look at man. He smiled, but his eyes were clouded is despair. She could relate to how he felt, but said nothing more on the topic. At first, she had been disappointed with him on what he had one, but now that they were the last ones left, she realized the kindness in his actions. After all, he was alive because of it.

He moved over to the side to look at the building, "They're progressing faster than they should be. I can sense that, even now. The red ninja is close."

"Can you tell why?"

"I can only guess. They all are powerful, and have all mastered their elements faster than they should have. So, it could be unintended influence from the green ninja. But fire and wind are definitely ahead of the others. Though that could be because both their parents where elemental masters" he stated.

"That complicates things. If Thanatos finds out, we will find ourselves overwhelmed" she shook her head, "we should rest while we can."

He chuckled, "our only job is to live for as long as possible. It's a shame how hard that appears to be."

The woman sent him a warning glare. He had no right to mock the deceased that way. They had fought alongside him once, had protect him from harm. They made themselves targets, it wasn't their fault that Thanatos needed them dead. But her glare softened when she saw his face. He refused to mourn their loss, that much was obvious. And he had ruined the lives of those he cared about, simply to keep himself alive so he could save others. They both had spent so much time alone and in seclusion. It would be enough to drive anyone mad.

"It won't matter for long" she whispered, "the Great Devourer. The Alpha has teamed up with the Serpentine to unleash it."

"I should be happy to be free" he laughed without humor, "but that terrifies me more than a horrible death."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, it's been a little while.**

 **Anyway, I know this is one chapter short than it used to be. Sorry about that. And I know I said I'd update more often. Well, I had been busy. Also, I had sketched out an outline of the story so my updates would be a little more regular. _Earth Song_ looks like it'll be fifteen chapters long, _Embrace the Ice_ has some new content but will remain seven chapters and _Playing with Fire_ is looking at being nineteen chapters long. So you all have that to look forward to. ****Remember that those are just outlines, and the plan may change.**

 **I'm honestly not surprised that the poll I have up is showing that Ashley is the favorite. I used to be worried that she'd be hated, but now I've just accepted that you guys really love Ashley. Better not let her know, otherwise her ego will only increase tenfold. We can't have that...**

 **Oh hey, bonus content too. Are you guys wondering who these two are? If you can guess, you get a cookie. If not, don't worry about it. Because you'll find out. I can't for that moment to happen.**

 **Thank you for your kind reviews (seriously, I love you guys). Constructive criticism is encouraged.**

 **See you next chapter, victims~**


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